In 1998, I remember walking into Foot Locker and shopping for new shoes. I saw a pair of blue/yellow and yellow/blue Adidas shoes. They were low cut, basic style, flat soles, and suede body. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were durable tanks. The yellow/blue pair looked too much like bananas, but the royal blue/yellow shoes were just right. It was love at first site.

10 years later, I was still wearing them. I may have put them away for a year or two, but they were always around. I never did any physical activities in them. (Although, I let my high school friend wear them for tennis a couple times. They got dinged when he skidded his feet) Structurally, they remained sound and without tear. They were “getting around” shoes. At the heels, the soles were wearing down from when I dragged my feet. The royal blue lost it’s pristine tone and turned navy/black. The yellow stripes turned brown, but they got better with age.

In my hagwon days, last year, I wore them to English classes and incorporated them into my lessons.

“Are my shoes dirty or clean?”
“They are DIRTY!”
“Are they new or old?”
“They are OLD!”
“HOW old are they?”
“…”
“They are 10 years old. How old are you?”
7 years old!”
“*grimace* “Are they pretty or ugly?”
“They are UGLY!”
“wrong.”

After 10 long years, the only problem was the smell. If I wore them on a hot summer day, the smell after taking them off was putrid. It was the smell of granola and sweaty ass. It couldn’t be subdued. It penetrated my socks and my feet. No amount of Febreeze or baking soda could tame the smell. And for that reason, I had to retire them.

They still reside back at home, but only because I couldn’t bare to throw them away. I wanted to send them to a Nike recycling center. That way they might be resurrected as a rubber turf or track. But, recently, I decided it was time to move on. Fortunately, I found a pair of the same style, but different colors.

Well, today. I go back to the website and it’s the same mess. I went to another website, and it was the same message. NOO. I tried a dorrent site that I never use. Gahhhhh! I went to the blog “dorrentfreak”. RAAAGGGEEEE! I see what you did there.

These websites didn’t go down, but these websites have been blocked from the network. And whose network would I be using? The School. You cheeky bastards.

I guess someone has noticed my bandwidth usage. I’m using a static IP, so they must know its coming from me. But rather than talking to me about it or asking me to lower bandwidth usage, they blocked me from visiting the websites. You think you’re *sooooo* smart.

My dorrent client will keep working. They can’t block that or keep it from connecting to peers. (unless they cut off my internet) But they think they’ve stopped me from downloading dorrent files from visiting the websites. lol

I WILL reduce the bandwidth I’m using. But, if I can’t use the school network to connect to these websites. I’ll just visit these sites through someone else’s network. You haven’t won.

Since I’ve been at the school, I’ve witnessed the Winter final exams and Spring mid-term exams. During these 4 day sessions, I have no English classes. Students come to school from morning ’til the afternoon and take exams. That’s it. What do I have to do? … Nothing. There have been additional days when there were no classes as well.

Previously, the heads of the English department went to the Vice Principal, and asked if I could be excused from attending school. Many times this was on short notice, like thee day before short notice. The Head of the English department would come to me and say, “Tomorrow, and the next 3 days you don’t have to come to school. You can just enjoy you’re time.”

Yes, it’s great to have some days off. But, the last minute-ness of this really pissed me off. They would then ask, “What will you do on your vacation?” … What?! You just fucking told me about this. In the last 2 seconds, I haven’t had time to make a daily fucking itinerary?!

Yes, I realize I’m bitching. I actually have work pretty easy at my school, and a day off is a day off. But I never understood why I they had to ask permission all the time from the Vice Principal, and they couldn’t tell me this news sooner. We have the school schedules. We know when the exams are coming up. Do I have to be here or not?

Well, this particular time, I have to remind you who is the current Head of the English Department: The Godfather. He’s a blessing and a curse. In this case, he was lazy, the Vice Principal felt like being a dick, and I made the mistake of assuming.

Wednesday, I knew that final exams were coming up. Thursday was the first day of tests. Friday was the school’s birthday? And exams would resume from Monday through Wednesday.

Eventhough, I never actually heard the phrase, “Mers, you don’t have to come to school during final examinations.” No one said, “Mers, you DO have to come to school to do XYZ during the final exams.” My only job is to teach these English classes. When I’m not teaching, I have nothing else to do. I went ahead and assumed that I didn’t need to come to school. I didn’t have to come the last 2 times, why would this be different.

So, let me reiterate. I AM bitching. I do understand Korean culture. Korean teachers work over twice as hard as I do. Along with regular classes they have to monitor their students, and they have individual tasks within the school. I have things pretty easy. Even though, I can get these days off. Korean teachers sure as hell wouldn’t get any slack or sympathy. They are employed by the school, and they’re gonna be there and put in a full day. Period.

So back to my story.

Today, I woke up and lounged about my apartment. The doorbell rang, and it was the Korean teacher, who I get a ride to school with. I told him, I wasn’t going. I have no classes. He was ok with that answer and left. But in the back of my mind, I thought that was odd. Every other time that I’d been “officially” given the day off, he knew about it. Why was he ringing my doorbell, today? And that got me a little worried, no one “officially” came to me and told me I had these days off.

I was enjoying my time off. Rather than using ATMs, I like to personally walk into the bank to pay my bills. On school days, there’s no time for this. I’m at school from the time the bank opens and closes. The same applies for the post office. So, I paid my bills, picked up a crisp new 50,000W bill (just issued), and mailed letters. Any other week day, I have no time for this. I got home and started flipping through my archive of photos. Around 11:30, I get a call from the Godfather.

Godf: “Mers, where are you?”
Mers: “I”m at home. Why?”
Godf: “Why didn’t you come to school today with Mr Chin?”
Mers: “The students have final examinations. I have no classes today.”
Godf: “Yes. But, Mr Vice Principal asked about you.”
Mers: “Am I supposed to be there.”
Godf: “I want you to enjoy your time.”
Mers: “Okay.”
Godf: “So, you should come to our school, now.”
Mers: “… *sigh*”

So, I threw on some clothes and taxied it to the school.

Let’s be clear. The Godfather is THE Godfather. He, of all people, understands the need for time off. He doesn’t teach his classes with me, like he should. He sleeps in his chair. I told him that none of the students were attending my after school classes. He said, “You’re still getting paid. Just enjoy your time.” The Godfather couldn’t care less if I showed up today or not. He knows I have nothing to do. He has seniority, … except from the Vice Principal. And that’s why this went down. This one time, the Godfather didn’t ask permission if I could be excused for these days.

So, for whatever reason, the Vice Principal noticed that I wasn’t in the office today. I wasn’t blatantly sitting at my desk with my thumbs up my ass, reading blogs, and downloading videos. You know, … “working”. He had to inquire about me. “Where is Mers? Who said Mers didn’t have to come today?” And that responsibility fell on the Godfather.

I arrived at the school and went to see the Godfather. The Godfather wasn’t upset with me, but he had to save face with the Vice Principal. His character and personal responsibility were on the line. It wasn’t mine. We went to the cafeteria, where the VP was eating lunch, and we explained our situation. I played the role of the innocent confused foreigner. The Vice Principal didn’t seem to give two shits, and he said that I could take Monday through Wednesday off.

Thank you, I’m glad we cleared that up. /sarcasm

This is Korean society for you, and like I said I AM bitching. I’m thankful that the Vice Principal thinks and includes me as one of the Korean teachers. I’m thankful for the trips and many lunches we have, but painstakingly, I’ve gotta put in that time.

And now that I was back at the school, I had to put in that full day of work. Examinations were finished for the day, lunch was served, and the students were going home. It was 1 PM. So that left me with 4 hours of “Shoot me in the head. I don’t have my laptop or Korean study books. I’m fucking bored, and I have to stay here unitl 5PM. FUCK … ME.”

Throughout the orientation, I carried the pregidace that these classes weren’t for me. My goal for this orientation was to study some Korean and read my books. I got a fair amount of this accomplished. I cracked my textbooks during lectures. At night, I choose reading in my room over drinking and socializing, But I always felt that I wasn’t doing enough.

On Wednesday, I had to wait 15 min for my teaching partner. We were going to go to the computer lab and work on our powerpoint. Rather than sit in the lab, I choose to wait in the foyer and read my book. I’d also keep my eyes open for my partner. As I waited, some girl disturbed me from my reading time.

She started off by apologizing for interrupting me, but her reasoning was that “She was an extrovert, and liked to speak with introverted people.” What! Since when does reading in the foyer make me an introvert! She, also, had a goal for herself to meet everyone in the orientation and mark their names off the printed out list. In a round about way, I felt insulted. Introverted!

I explained to her that this orientation wasn’t my cup of tea. Most of the people here fit my categorization of the “typical” foreign teacher. I hate the small talk conversations of “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “Why are you in Korea?” Everyone asks the same questions. And realistically, the probablitity of me building a friendship outside this orientation is slim. Most people I spoke with couldn’t find their city if you gave them a map of Korea.

She asked for my name, so she could mark me off her list and I said “No, I’m not giving you that.” She said she’d write me down as “guy in red shirt, confident, and no hair.” I told her she could write me down as she might really be thinking, “black glasses, bald, and arrogant.”

Because she disturbed me from my reading, I decided to hit her with a hard and overall inquisitive question. I asked her, “What does your smock dress have to do with your religion?” I’ll admit. It was a directly rude question, but I had already established myself as arrogant and ignorant. But truthfully, I wanted to know with a straight answer.

Her appearance was one that you’ve probably seen. It’s where the females dress completely conservative with a long unattractive dress. It looked completely smock like with two straps at the top and a front that extends above the chest to her ankles. She wore the same dress the day before, so I knew she was “one of those people”, but honestly, I don’t know what “those people are.” Typically, they have long unfashioned hair as well, but her’s was wrapped under a scarf. What’s the name of your religion and how does the unrevealing skirt have to do with it? To these questions, I have never known the answers, and still didn’t get a straight answer.

She didn’t tell me the name of her religion. She did tell me that the dress doesn’t have to do with her “religion” as much as her “relationship with Jesus”. Her future husband, children, and lifestyle all relate to her relationship. BUT WHAT IS IT AND WHY? To these questions, I couldn’t get a straight answer, and at this time I spotted my partner and choose to make a getaway.

In passing, I saw her a few more times. She said, “Hello, Mr Confident!” Under the guise of being polite, I felt she wasn’t being honest. I responded with, “It’s ok to call me arrogant.”

Did I, perhaps, hit her with a difficult question off the bat? Maybe. But if you’re going to interrupt my reading, tell me YOU’RE an extrovert, and I’M an introvert, you’d better be ready to talk. Because, I don’t want to have the superficial small talk.

Now, that that’s over. Let’s get back to my question. “Who are these people?” and “What does their dress have to do with their ‘relationship with Jesus’?”

*head explode*

It was surprising for me. I suppose Sign Language has it’s own right to be a University major. After all, I need not go into the many *bulgogi* majors out there. But I had never heard or met someone who was majoring in Sign Language. However, a greater explosion came after he told me that he was picking up “Korean Sign Language”.

*head more explode*

WHAT! Sign Language isn’t universal! Out of every language or form of communication, I thought this was standardized. Nope. I guess that only makes since too, right?

It’s unfortunate to think that Cocoa the Gorilla has to learn another country’s signs to speak with Korean or Swedish Gorillas.

Ya learn something new everyday.

A new Star Wars: TOR has been announced, but it’s an MMORPG. Many Final Fantasy games appear to be going that way as well. I’ve never played an MMORPG. I don’t think I’d like them. I never had friends when I grew up playing video games. I dont want friends when I play video games…maybe.

My thoughts are that if Microsoft released a 360 2, I might buy that. I’m sure it would have a blue-ray player and and all the bells and whistles of HD. Hopefully, all the current 360 games would be backwards compatible, and I could buy them on the cheap. $60 for games these days, damn.

The first 360 appears to be continuously improving with updates and remaining current. The PS3 still seems almost… new? Neither seem outdated in terms of graphics and performance. So, I’m sure they’ll have another 3 years before being succeeded.

This the first time I’ve ever NOT owned one or more of a generational console. I’ll continue to hold off…maybe.

Last week, I bought a Korean anime. I’m trying to convert the DVD to MKV files, which I can store on my computer. I want them to be MKV, so I can retain the English and Korean subtitles. However, I can’t find any good tutorials to do this.

The upcoming weeks are getting packed with events. On June 12, I have an open English class. I have to prepare an open lesson with my Korean co-teacher, and I’ll be observed by other teachers from the city. I’m not nervous about it, but its like “maaan….why….?”

June 16-19, I have to go to these Korean seminars for foreign teachers, and we stay for the 4 days. “Maaan….why….?” There had better be a swimming pool. During those days, I planned to review lessons with the students, because the next week I’ve giving speaking tests. After that it’s mid-terms, and summer vacation is around the corner.

This Saturday, I’m going mountain climbing with a teacher. She said she might be able to introduce me to a friend who works for an “international school”. International schools in Korea are like private high schools in America. Parents pay college-like tuition for their children to attend. If this woman were hiring, I’d definitely be listening.

In the English news, I read too much about North Korea’s recent exploits, and it gets old. South Koreans don’t think twice about “Declarations of War”, because they’ve heard it too many times before. North Korea has “little man syndrome” and they need the spotlight.

One of my fav shows, ‘So You Think You can Dance’ has restarted. One thing I like about this show is that everyone is ‘cut’. I watch the females dance, and I think “Wow, that is an amazing body”. The same goes for the males, “Wow, that is an amazing body.”

UFC 98 was last week. I was glad to see Lyoto Machida pull out the victory. I hope he holds the title for many more bouts, because he’s a great technical fighter.

Interesting. The camera won’t be released until July. That will give me some time to think about it, and wait for more hands on reviews.

Yeah, it’s a commitment to have one of these cameras, Melissa. They’re big and bulky, but I’m sure you’ve noticed the quality of lighting and focus are better than point-and-shoots. Camera phones are now a gimmick.

I guess all my favorite shows are wrapping up. I still have seasons of “The Wire” to watch, and I’ve been watching “Shaun the Sheep“. It’s from the Wallace and Gromit crew. They’re short and sweet.

I finished my Korean History book. I gave up on Crime and Punishment. I got a 1/3 way through it and put it down. It climaxed in the beginning and, now, it’s doing nothing for me. I’m now reading … “My name Lon, You like Me“. It’s about the sex slavery and prostitution in Tailand.

On my recent paycheck, the school billed me for my lunch and dinners at the school. I thought it was a free ‘perk’, but oh well. It’s not that expensive, and what else am I going to eat. It’s buffet style, and I get my fill. I’m, also, not shy about getting seconds.

Today, is teachers day. We have a half day at the school. Students are in and out of the teachers office giving carnations and presents. I haven’t had anything personally handed to me yet. Though, I got snacks galore and an umbrella(?) yesterday.
UPDATE: I got carnations!

Last weekend, I watched an indie Korean movie called The Story of Mr Sorry. This guy started a career of ear cleaning, because he enjoyed having his ears cleaned when he was a child. He gets shrunk to pea size, but continues to clean ears. He climbs into peoples ears and removes the build up. Through curiosity, he learns that he can see into minds of the people he cleans. He learns their darkest secrets.

Some futures plans are bouncing around my head, but I’m not going to talk about them until plans are more definite.

I’ve been listing to more Omar Rodriguez Lopez. I found a nice BBC recording from him, too. An acquaintance, also, encouraged me to listen to the entire Sgt Pepper album from the Beatles. I was told it’s the most celebrated album without any #1 hits.

I should know soon whether I’m going to buy a new Pentax or start looking at Canon models.

I’m liking Windows 7. While upgrading I found the stats for my laptop.

- Intel Core 2 Duo processor, T8400/T8600 (2.26/2.4GHz)
- 12.1 inch WXGA (1280×800) Display
- NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9300M GS high-performance 3D graphics card, 256MB video memory
- Intel 802.11 a/g/n (1X2) Wireless up to 300Mbps
- weight 2.2 pounds

I remember way back in (maybe) 2nd grade. I loved math so much that I asked my teacher for homework. Now, I’m wishing that I had a daily Korean class. I want homework and I’m having fun studying.

I’ve been watching ‘The Wire.’

I have a week off of vacation. How did that happen? I wish the school would have told me sooner, but …

Direxion Financial Bear 3X Shares (the Fund) seeks daily investment results of 300% of the inverse (or opposite) of the price performance of the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index (the Financial Index). The Financial Index is a capitalization-weighted index of companies that provide financial services.

In a nut shell, it’s a bearish ETF centered around the financial banks. When the bank stocks go down, FAZ will move up. BIG! When the banks move up, FAZ will move down. BIG! With the recent collapse of some of the banks, you can understand why this is a popular ETF to trade. Gamblers have the potential to make a lot of money quickly. FAZ has a bizzaro brother which is FAS. They work opposite of each other.

Due to the nature of this ETF, I’ve only been trading a small amount of cash, but it has paid off. Fortunately, I’ve been able to miss most of the down days (last week it was down -40% in ONE DAY) and get lucky when it moves up (like today).

I think “sleeping with FAZ” sounds appropriate, because I go to sleep around the time the stock market opens. When I wake up, it has already closed. Therefore, in the mornings, I’m always thinking what did FAZ do. Was it a great one night stand or do I need to see the doctor?

Since, I’m trading a small amount the pay off hasn’t been substantial. My gains have been a drop in the bucket compared to last year’s losses. But it has been fun sleeping around. And if the banks are going crash, I might as well capitalize on it.

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the movie, because it leaked to the net. Now, we’re going to have to wait to see the box office numbers to see the damage. But honestly, it’s a bad movie.

Token “black man”, lame jokes, swiss cheese plot, obligatory cursing, conventional one liners, bad fight sequences, Hollywood makeup.

Did we not learn anything from X-men 3 or gain inspiration from Dark Knight?.

The Korean won has hit its lowest level in 11 years, and its the biggest loser among major currencies. Gawd! I need some Korean CD’s and bonds until it’s reasonable to transfer won to dollars.

Where does the time go? Everyday I jump on the internet. I first start my daily downloads. I check emails, and then I sift through my internet feeds. Before you know it, 3 hours are gone. Man. And I’m still not through my feeds.

The students are back, today (Friday). They’re doing some cleaning around the school. Teaching starts on Monday. I should start doing some planning. *cringe* I wonder where they buy their uniforms? I’ve missed the school lunches.

One of the Korean teachers told me that I should sign up for the ‘Tennis Circle’. Boi, don’t put me in no ‘Tennis Circle’. I will buy some shoes, a racquet, and I will go to TOWN on yo asses. I’m talkin’ ghetto, so you know I’m fo real real.

After my trip to Jeju, I could feel a cold creaping up on me. It started with a light sore throat, a sniffle, and now a full blown nasal congestion. This is the first time I’ve felt sick since returning to Korea. I think it’s due to the changing weather and the torture I put my body through on the Sunday mountain climb.

Let’s see. I’ve been watching American Idol, Survivor, Important Things w/ Demitri Martin, The Wire (first season), BSG, UFC, and No Reservations (of course). Why has The Office been on hiatus?

I’ve only watched the first episode of Important Things, and I liked it. It was better than the the typical ass/fart/drug/vulgar joke shows that Comedy Central usually puts out.

I’m going to try harder to eat something breakfast-ish in the mornings. Recently, I added cherry tomatoes, raisins, soy nuts, and saltines to my shopping list. I always have the urge to snack between meals. Though, that will probably change since I’m back at school for most of the day. I need to buy some bananas

Beer #2 has been bottled. This one is the Golden Sheif Wheat. It didn’t look very wheatty when I took a gravity sample. It didn’t taste wheatty either. I dont want to use white or brown sugar in my beers. I can’t buy corn sugar in Korea, so I’m going to mess around with corn syrup. In one week, I’ll reattempt my Brown Ale for better results. I’m also going to try and harvest my yeasts to fit the beer styles.

Yesterday, I went to one of the major electronic districts in Seoul. I went hunting for camera lenses. All the retailers are fierce to get your business. However, as soon as I told them that I wanted a Pentax lens, they backed away. No one had in stock the lens I was looking for. Not many had Pentax lenses, period. I went to the Pentax booth, and the guy said he couldn’t get the lens I wanted. Regardless of availability, I want to support Pentax even more than Canon and Nikon cameras. If I upgrade my camera body, I might still go Pentax.

12 hours into Dragon Quest IV on the NDS, and the game is finally picking up. All this time, I’ve been playing through separate character chapters. In each chapter, I’ve had to level up new characters starting at level 1 … terrible.

I think I hate anyone with ‘Hello Kitty’ paraphernalia. No matter what statement you’re trying to make, it’s not cute.

Making money in Korea used to be good. I’m reading, now, that Japan’s economy is starting to take a hit. Hopefully, the won and yen will even out, soon.

The weather dropped to freezing levels, again … brrrrr.

The Gimp is a free graphics editing software. I’ve tried so hard to like it, but I’m going back to Photoshop.

For the first time, I went drinking in the downtown area of my city. I’ve always stuck to the University neighborhood for my watering hole. I went with some of the professors from the local University. Surprisingly, it was their first time, too, and some of them have been here for over a year. For a Saturday night, it was dead, but technically, it’s still winter vacation.

I’m taking a trip this weekend. Naturally, I’ll be taking photos, but I still haven’t uploaded the photos from my last 2 trips. =/

I watched a BBC Horizon called “Why thin people aren’t fat.” It was a 30 day study where they asked thin people to eat twice their daily Calorie intake and limit their exercise. All of the subjects gained weight, but with different results and findings. I though it was interesting, but I would have liked to have seen more data from their findings. Most of the people resorted to eating chocolate to reach their goals.

I’m, of course, a skinny guy, but I think most of my problems come from overeating and trying to finish all the food placed in front of me. That, and I’m lazy.

I, also, finished Season 3 of The Venture Brothers. Man, I love that show.

I watched a Nat Geo called ‘Journey to the Edge of the Universe’. It served it’s purpose in making me feel extremely insignificant.

On the web, many dorks will not stop talking about a service called *dwitter* (name changed to ease my rage). Every time I see or hear that word, I want to go postal. I do not give a shit about it, and that’s all they ever talk about. I dont care about signing up, subscribing to *dweets*, or the latest shitty use for it.

What I have been following are some new Pentax and photography blogs. I’ve been trying to read up on some new photo tips, news, and reviews. I’m thinking about buying a new camera lens. Since, some of them cost the same as a new camera, I want to make sure I’ll get the right one for my photo needs.

In fact, I’ll be killing the Drifting thru Korea blog sometime. I’m going to transform it into a photo blog. I’m not a good writer, and others do a better job when talking about Korea. I’d rather post a photo and write a caption.

The weather is supposed to touch 50 for the next couple days. Nice. Where are you, Spring?

Reading Crime and Punishment and a Korean history book.

I download a lot of internet media, like the Revision3 content. I wish they’d start using bittorrent again for their distribution. Korea has fast internet connections, but I always get a slow direct download rate from their servers (20KB/s). Bittorrent, PLEEZ.

Watched the Miyazaki film Ponyo. Wow. That was a slow movie; I fell asleep. There’s no twist to the movie. You pretty much know the premise from the start, and it doesn’t deviate at all. Terrible.

I finished Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time about 2 weeks ago. That was a fun game. And, it was challenging. The first time, I must have fought the final boss for 25 minutes before I died. That pissed me off, like no game has done in awhile.

Fortunately, I read there is a working title for a sequel: Mario & Luigi RPG 3.

I started playing Professor Layton. It’s a puzzle game, and it hasn’t been keeping me occupied for more than 30 minutes. I’ll probably start playing Dragon Quest and hold off on Chrono Trigger.

Ceej, I think you’d really enjoy a DS. Get the CycloDS chip and hold off on the PS3. I’m sure M and S could get some fun out of a Tetris game.

I don’t think I’ve given Schlafly’s beer the credit that they deserve. Mom and I took a tour of their brewery just before I came here. I read about them in some blogs, and it appears that they are always doing something creative or interesting for St Louis or beer drinkers.

Fried Egg T-shirt. FTW!

I’d really like to play around with Ubuntu or Windows 7 beta on my home computer. They only thing stopping me is the internet. I’m borrowing someone’s wifi with this crummy antennae. Sometimes it works; Sometimes it doesn’t. I think I’d have a time trying to set it up on either of those OS’s. The Windows 7 beta has an expiration date, too, which sucks. Then, there would be the business of moving my movies and files to this new OS.

I, also, want to try boxee.

I thought it was interesting that Trent Reznor had the best selling album of 2008 in the Amazon mp3 store.

I want to get out more. Really, I do! I want to see new places, take photos, eat some culinary cuisines, and keep up my exercise schedule. But when I see this in the morning, I’m gonna slink back into bed, sip on some mate, and play Nintendo DS all day.

Here’s a photo of my beauties. Two days and none of them have exploded. I was a little worried they might, and here’s why.

Perhaps I’m taking these gravity reading wrong, but when I took my original reading it was 1.026. For this type of beer, that’s low from what I’ve read. Active fermentation ceased after 1 day, and the temperature was around 23-24C. I pitched new yeast and nothing happened. After one week, I took a reading and it was around 1.012. The temperature dropped to 22-23. After 2 weeks, I took another reading, and it really hadn’t changed much. The temperature in my room isn’t cold by any means and the temperature was going down, 21-22. So, I took that as a sign that fermentation might be done. However, a reading of 1.012 is still high. I bottled anyways.

I added brown sugar as my primer and made sure to add the right amount.

After one day of bottling, I definitely felt the pressure of the bottles. Overall, I have 16, 1.5L PET bottles. There was still more beer, so I filled an empty wine bottle I had laying around. I covered the top with plastic wrap and screwed on the cap. That’s probably not the best seal, but whatever. After 2 weeks, this will be my test beer. Being from the bottom sludge, it probably has the most yeast and nastiest flavor, but we’ll see.

Or maybe I’ll try it after one week, I’m a very eager beaver.

- drink more tea
- drink more beer
- make an awesome beer recipe
- read more books
- play more games
- educate myself
- take more photos
- take my photography to a new level
- buy a new camera lens
- get my photo gallery on the web
- blog more
- get a plant in my apt
- exercise more
- possibly get into running
- punch an a$$hole
- dust off my sketchbook
- stop eating ramen at home
- discover new food
- discover new Korean artists
- explore Korea
- possibly learn guitar
- possibly work on my hapkido
- have a profitable year of trading
- study Korean
- find a good girl
- get a new tattoo
- donate money to worthy cause
- passively influence others
- change the floral pattern on my Korean blog
- keep in touch with people better
- be less of an a$$hole